A woman, aged 23 and from east London, died at the scene after a serious collision involving three cars and an HGV lorry at Junction 29 on Friday evening, April 3
A young woman has tragically lost her life in a severe crash involving three cars and a lorry on the M25 in Essex. Emergency services dashed to J29 of the M25 on Friday evening (April 3) following reports of a serious collision.
Metropolitan Police officers arrived at the scene near J29, close to Upminster at 7.52pm, accompanied by the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance. The major route remained shut until roughly 5am on Saturday morning (April 4). Scotland Yard confirmed a 23-year-old woman from east London died at the scene. Her family have been informed and are receiving support from specialist officers.
No other injuries were reported and no arrests have been made, with investigations ongoing. A spokesperson for the Met Police stated: “Anyone with information or dashcam footage is asked to call police on 101, quoting CAD 6459/4APR, or independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.”
A representative for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called at 7.51pm on 3 April 2026 to a road traffic collision on the M25 between Junction 29 and Junction 30. Firefighters used specialist cutting equipment to free a female casualty who was trapped in a vehicle,” reports Essex Live.
“The casualty was released and left in the care of the ambulance service. Crews remained on scene to make the area safe.”
The development follows a previous collision in Derby city centre on Saturday night last week. Seven people suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries when a car hit pedestrians in scenes of “absolute carnage” on March 28. Police said the car believed to be involved was stopped after the incident in Friar Gate at about 9.30pm.
One eye-witness said it was “absolute carnage” as they saw multiple people laying in the road and on the pavement after it happened. They added: “It was utterly horrific. People were laying on the pavement covered in blood and on the road.”
Derbyshire Police have now confirmed seven people in total were injured and rushed to two hospitals, Royal Derby Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham. The force said in a statement: “We can confirm that seven people were injured when a car was driven into pedestrians in a city centre street.
“The car, a black Suzuki Swift, struck a number of people in Friar Gate at about 9.30pm on Saturday March 28. The seven suffered a range of serious but not life-threatening injuries and we can confirm that, contrary to online speculation, no-one died in the incident.”
Police also confirmed one man, who is in his 30s and originally from in India, had been arrested.
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